Some of you know that I was a Teach For America teacher in Louisiana for 3 years. While there I worked with the most disadvantaged children in the country alongside 60 other young adults doing the same in the poorest parishes in the poorest state. These are kids who already have setbacks – schools, parents, society all hold them to the lowest of expectations. The food chosen for them is unhealthy, they don’t have books in their homes, they don’t have many strong adult mentors in their lives. Every advantage that you’ve had that allows you to be where you are in life (no matter how hard-won!) is missing for them. And now their homes and schools are flooded.

Teach For America has a network of smart, passionate, loving education professionals on the ground (or in the water) in Louisiana. They know exactly what a particular mom, a particular son, a particular community member needs and can take it to them. But they need your help to do it.

This is Louisiana’s third disaster in 15 years. I was present for Hurricane Gustav in 2008 and watched Point Coupee Parish become a National Disaster Area. Here’s the aftermath. The poor who were living in trailers down the hill are either abandoning their homes or defending them from thieves. Those were my students. The grocery stores are empty – there is no ice, no meat, no produce, no milk because delivery trucks can’t get through. Children are sleeping in a field of cots in some recreation center, surrounded by armed members of the national guard in case there is a riot. Those were my students. And even after the flooding subsides, the school is closed for a week while it removes, not replaces, moldy ceiling tiles.